NOTE: The Genie Twilight response is going to be a little late, I’ve been kinda busy this month. But I thought I’d at least release my thoughts on the Finale now and Season 5 as a whole too.

Well here we are at the Finale. I think as I did with Friendship Games, while I’m giving it another watch. I’ll be taking notes and start talking about my thoughts in a little more detail then how most of my responses are whatever comes to mind after I have watched an episode at least twice.

However unlike my Friendship Games review it may not exactly be nearly all gushing. HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean I disliked the Finale that much. I think it was still overall good. But I did feel weird both during and after this episode compared to watching previous Finales as in most previous ones (Canterlot Wedding, Magical Mystery Cure, and Twilight’s Kingdom) all left me VERY satisfied after the first watch. For some reason I’m not feeling that way this time for this Finale. Though I hope through doing this notes as I watch it again that perhaps I’ll understand a little more as to why.

So if you really loved the finale be warned there may be moments where I go on tangents that are somewhat critical. But please know that again I didn’t hate this Finale and I will praise what I felt they did good. But let’s get started

The opening scene with Twilight rehearsing her speech is kinda neat, I myself kinda struggled with having Speeches in front of the class. And probably often had to look at the cards rather then the class while speaking. Twilight adds the extra pressure on herself of having to set a good example, as she may very well be the most well-known former student of that school. Props to Twilight for her not bucking under pressure here, though poor Spike who has to hear this speech so many times in a row.

On a side note, I was surprised to see Josh Haber was the one to write this. I was kinda expecting Meghan to uphold her two-parter Finale mantle she’s had for a long while. Though I liked what Josh did with Friendship Games so I suppose he wasn’t too odd of a choice.

Two things that I do like right away about this episode is Spike being legitimately supportive of Twilight

I gotta say that Starlight being able to fly just using Magic is just weird. I’m not upset by it at any means, but I do think there will probably be people calling BS on that. The only other time we’ve had something like that is the Unicorn Baby of the Cakes in the episode Baby Cakes but I think that was implied to because of a magic surge that goes away after a while in newborn Unicorns. Unless it’s tied down to Starlight’s special talent, it feels like an odd sudden skill. We never saw her levitate herself in the Opener after all.

Getting into our first alternate reality. The Crystal War Timeline might be my favorite of all of them. It’s a grim alt. universe that would probably make a decent Fanfic series (I wouldn’t be surprised if fanfiction writers are already heading to their keyboards writing full-length epic stories based on this alternate timeline) with good designs and interesting paths the different ponies took. Plus it finally gives you just what was at stake in the Crystal Empire. Had the Mane 6 and Cadence failed to stop Sombra, the Crystal War might of happened there too. Sombra unfortunately doesn’t get any added character through this, but he certainly gets expanded on what his goal was. Just looking at Crystal War Timeline Rainbow Dash perhaps has the most implied violence in the entire show. She has a robotic left wing, an eye scar, three cuts on the back of her neck, and part of her ear is missing. Pinkie and Maud also look quite cool. It’s just a Universe that you’d think is  something out of a more mature rated fanfiction rather then the show.

Gotta say, the talk between Twilight and Filly Dash hit some weird places… especially when Twilight’s gave the bedroom eye double wink. Now I’m somewhat a person who likes to see TwiDash stuff from time to time. Buuuuut certainly not like that… c.c

I don’t quite like the Changeling invasion timeline as much as Crystal War but it is another interesting take. Though definitely quite scarier then the last one considering at least The Crystal War has the Ponies fighting and having a good chance against Sombra, but in a war against Chrysalis and any pony coming in that could be a Changeling in Disguise it’s near hopeless.

Now in terms of the status of the Ponies, the Nightmare Moon timeline actually is a little more well-off it seems. Just with Eternal Night going on and Celestia now banished to the moon instead. So in some ways it kinda contradicts Twilight’s statement later where she says each one is worse then the last. I’d definitely think the Changeling Takeover is a lot worse then Nightmare Moon rules Equestria.

Now the shorter timelines we’re shown are of course a little more simpler showed. Where we get a Tirek wins timeline where he’s just continuing to destroy all that’s left of Equestria, Discord of course with Eternal Chaos forever trolling Celestia and Luna, and finally… Flim & Flam business expands across  Equestria? Wat, that’s a really random choice for an alternate reality. I know Flim & Flam were shady business men, but really? Their own timeline? I wouldn’t think they’d fall under the same level as the villains who got their own timeline.

Though now that we’re out of the whole different villain Alternate Timeline thing. I think I do have the problem is that it kinda took too much time showing the first three Alternate realities with the time that really could of been used for something more important. They could have Twilight spend a decent amount of time in just 1 or even 2 timelines. Not to mention it feels they used it as an excuse to bring back every previous villain if only for a short time. Considering how the episode ends, it feels like they spent more time showing previous villains again rather then spending time on developing their current villain.

However, if there is one timeline they did really effectively. It’s the one Twilight shows Starlight. The whole world is barren and empty, with hardly a sign of life. And we have no idea how it happened. We can only theorize what caused it. I’m sure the most popular theory would be all the villains (Except Flim and Flam I imagine, they’d cower under the might of the others) fighting each other for control that it ends up destroying every little thing including each other. But we can’t say for sure that’s what happened. For all we know, something even worse then that came. Perhaps a creature escaped from Tartaurus that makes Tirek look like mincemeat came out and did this to Equestria. There of course already jokes like they traveled to Fallout Equestria too. But the scariest part is we’ll never know for sure.

Then we finally get to the reason Starlight has her whole crusade against Cutie Marks & Friendship. And I think part of the problem I have with this episode is this is exactly the thing that probably could of used a lot more time. Maybe just not with this episode, but at least a bit of hint of this in Starlight’s debut. Even with us being shown Starlight’s past, I’m not sure I care enough about Starlight’s plight. She nearly dooms Equestria to a terrible alternate future even after being shown the worst possible one in that wasteland and makes it seem like Starlight wouldn’t care all because she lost that one friend due to them sending him to Canterlot to I imagine that Magic school. I feel like we need a little more context, like maybe if there was something where Starlight tried sending letters to him or if there was a day she reunited with him but he basically ignored her. That would be understandable, because then Starlight feels much more like a victim. It’s possible we get some of this in Season 6 if it turns out Starlight becomes a recurring character, but as of right now. It’s too little, too late.

So as a result, Starlight’s redemption kinda falls flat in my eyes. It’s kinda like if Sunset had gone back to Equestria after the end of EQG1 and suddenly became a recurring character in the show. We all saw how mean (And cliche High School bully for that matter) Sunset was in that movie and even keeping in mind how that magic corrupted her it would seem like pushing a character that did bad things as a friend too quickly. Now because of Rainbow Rocks and Friendship Games, Sunset is a lot more well-liked and now people really would like her to at least visit Equestria once some day. But imagine if they had her show-up so soon after the first where people still had their misgivings about her. That’s how it feels to have Starlight suddenly in the spotlight, as we all saw her actions that simply need more time for us to start forgiving her from an audience spotlight. She put a whole town hostage, taking away their special talents just to feed the desire for revenge against Cutie Marks and Friendships as a whole, then 23 episodes later nearly dooms Equestria to a terrible timeline. Now I think the ending of the Finale seems to imply Starlight will be at least a new secondary character (Like CMC & Spike Tier. With her very own episodes from time to time) in the show from Season 6 and onwards and we’ll probably get a little more development for her as a result. But as it stands right now, it just comes out as awkward.

And I’m starting to think it’s Starlight that is my biggest gripe of this Finale. I’m not invested enough in her character to be happy for her when she’s redeemed. With previous finales, I had something to be happy about at the ending.

Best Night Ever? Although the night didn’t turn out as well for the Mane 6 as they hoped but they were all happy talking about their night together with Celestia and Spike at the donut shop.

Canterlot Wedding? After an intense fight and surprising twists with the Changelings we get to see the Wedding proceed as planned (Which if you didn’t care for Shining or Cadence I can understand why the episode didn’t do much for you) as I liked both of them more in just 44 minutes then I could Starlight in 88 minutes (That’s including the Season 5 Opener).

Magical Mystery Cure? I was just so damn proud of Twilight at the end there, I had no care in the world for the drama surrounding it. Twilight deserved her ascension through and through and left me excited more then the next season then any other Finale.

Twilight’s Kingdom? Discord got a much better redemption arc in that episode then in Keep Calm and Flutter On and Tirek was finally defeated not too long after we saw that intense battle between him and Twilight.

But this episode… I suppose I’m happy that Equestria is back to normal with hardly any changes despite how much Twilight and Starlight screwed around with Time. But the episode wants me to be happy for Starlight, and I just can’t do that at the current moment. If I’m right about Season 6 with Starlight becoming a recurring character, maybe she’ll warm up to me just like Sunset did from the first movie to the next two movies. But as of right now, I’m not into Starlight as a character yet.

As much as I enjoyed things like the alternate timelines being shown, some of my favorite episodes getting big nods to them, and Spike being there nearly the entire time. I can’t say anything super excited me. It just made it feel more dry then most Finales usually are. I can point to at least one moment in every finale I was blown away in some way. I was laughing out loud at Flutterage in Season 1’s, the whole Changeling thing was a complete surprise in Season 2’s, I was brought to tears of joy at Celestia’s Ballad in Season 3’s, And I was utterly amazed to see a fight straight out of Dragonball Z between Twilight and Tirek in Season 4’s. I cannot say I had a moment like that in this Finale. And it honestly makes me feel a bit down about it. It’s still a pretty good episode, but as a Finale I’m not left nearly as satisfied I usually have been with Finales of this show. So in terms of personal entertainment value, I feel this one is the worst of our 5 Finales. Thought that’s actually just saying how high the bar has been raised for Finales of this show. Each one was better then the last IMO and it was just setting up for when one eventually feels like a disappointment in comparison. Twilight’s Kindom may very well be my top episode of the entire show and with so many good and great episodes that just shows how much the bar was raised. So this episode had the burden of having something hard to follow-up on. But it’s not like I was expecting this to be better then Twilight’s Kingdom, that would be just setting up for disappointment. But I was kinda hoping at least something on the level of Canterlot Wedding where there at least one moment where I feel shock and awe when watching it for the first time. But just never did. It’s a decent two-parter overall, but as a Finale it falls short on too many things, I can say it’s a good episode. But I’m not sure about it being a good Finale.

Now I’ll say a few things about Season 5 as a whole. When compared to Season 4. It’s nearly equal in my thoughts when comparing Seasons 1 and 2. In case I haven’t covered this enough for you to know my thoughts on that. Season 1 is more consistent quality then Season 2. But it has less hits and the average episodes are not as good as the Season 2 average episodes. Season 2 had some spotty quality at times but you could name the episodes with really significant moments more often. Now replace Season 1 with Season 5, and Season 2 with Season 4. Both are better seasons then the ones in this analogy IMO as they improve upon or have less of the flaws of the very season. Season 5 is like a much better Season 1 in it remains consistent most of the time and doesn’t have limiting factors such as those friendship letters. As well as a mini-arc that doesn’t quite necessarily effect anything Finale-wise besides maybe a few minor details. (Season 1’s was the Gala, Season 5 was the whole Map thing) In both Season 1 and 5 only one episode made it as Instant All-Time favorites of mine, those episodes being Cutie Mark Chronicles and Amending Fences. There’s no other episodes in their seasons that I prefer over those two. Season 2 and Season 4 however ramp things high with several episodes that have exciting things happen and I can at least say three episodes from each Season that I absolutely loved (Season 2: Lesson Zero, Hurricane Fluttershy, and Canterlot Wedding. Season 4: Princess Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pride, and Twilight’s Kingdom). While Season 2 and 4 also had at least one obvious dud episode (Mare-Do-Well and Rainbow Falls) they certainly didn’t outweigh what came that was good in the season. And Season 2 & 4’s just good/great episodes I’d say were better then 1’s & 5’s. But maybe I should just say how I rank the Seasons using the ol’ Greater then/Less then symbols.

Season 4 > Season 2 > Season 5 > Season 1 > Season 3

I don’t think Season 5 was good enough to top 2 or 4. But I think it had a fairly enough good about it to top Seasons 1 and 3. So it’s the very middle-of-the-road Season comparatively (Oh and if there’s anybody reading who loved Season 3, don’t worry. I don’t hate Season 3. It’s just it being a half season kinda nerfs it when compared to every other season. If Season 3 had 26 episodes and this other half was the same quality as the Season 3 we actually got. Season 1 would actually be my least favorite season. It really got too much hate in the past, split any Season into two halves and you’d usually get a mixed bag like Season 3 was too.)

I definitely think I enjoyed Season 4 a lot more, but again just like the Finale compared to previous ones. It was a hard act to follow. But I am looking forward to when Season 6 arrives likely later next year. Until then it’s time to brace for the Hiatus. Season 5 brought us some fun moments, especially the 100th episode as well as the CMC getting their Cutie Marks so it surely won’t be forgotten. No doubt there will be a lot to discuss and talk about heading into next season. And I will certainly be there when it comes. ^^